Spiral binder



Jan. 30, 1940. FMFARKAS 2,188,680

SPIRAL BINDER Filed Oct. 10, 1938 BY $5... Ma; ,c

ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 30, 19 40 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE srmu. mm

Irank F. Farkas, Chicago, lll.,.assignor of one-' half to Emil N. Farkaacliicago, Ill.

appl cat on October 10, 1958. Serial No. 234.119

4 claims. (01. 129-1) This invention relates to new and usefulimprovements in binders for books, pamphlets, and the like.

More particularly, the invention relates to the well-known type ofbinder consisting of ahelically coiled wire, the convolutions ofwhich'are spaced at the spacing of perforations along one edge of theleaves to be bound together. The

. coil is usually made of brass or steel wire1and i can be readilyscrewed into the..perforati0ns and thus act as a binder which permitsthe opening flat of the book. While such binders are extensively used,there are certain objections to their employment.

. Owing to the fact that the coil is made of metal, the weight of thebook and, therefore, the cost of shipping is increased. ThisLisaggravated by the bulk of a p'ackagemade up of books bound with thmrelatively stifl wire coils which can not be 9 radially collapsed. Booksbound with a wire coil cannot, of course, be folded at right angles tothe axis of the, cofl. i

The wire coil must have a substantially greater diameter than thethickness of the book and the convolutions must have the same spacing asthe perforations, because otherwise the coil cannot be readily threadedthrough. the pages of the book. No matter how great care is exercised inthis respect, the threading'is diilicult, particularly when the book isthick because, unavoidably, the relatively rigid wire convolutions willrub against the sides'of the perforations.

The wire could mar a glass or glossy wooden surface and special, ratherexpensive protective arrangements must be provided at least partly tocover the wire.

The leaves become easily torn by the com'para tively-flne wire of whichthe coil is formedfparticularly when the leaves are pulled at an angleof 40 45? to the axis of the coil as is the case when paging through thebook. I

Still a further objection to such wire coils is that they spoil theappearance of the book and cannot be easily decorated. The wire coil isaprominent andoften inharmonious feature of the book's dress. Thisgreatly detracts from tor disturbs the message that the cover of 9.pamphlet (e. g., of advertising matter) seeks to convey and partly onthis account, as above stated, relatively costly and cumbersomearrangements have, been suggested to conceal such wire bindings.

It is the object of the present invention to avoid the drawbacksof'coiled wire binders by forming a helical coil, preferably of aflatand relatively thin strip of material, which is so pliable that it canbe readily'deformed and which is sumciently rigid and resilient so thatit can be screwed into the perforations and which willretain the shapeinto which it is molded. Various fibrous,

cellulosicQplastic, etc., materials, e. g., sheets of cellulose fibers,resins, etc., may be used for thispurpose. For the sake of brevity Ishall use the word plastic" to designate all materials suitable for thepurposes of the present invention.

To give the helical coil the'necessary' strength it is preferably formedof a flat strip having greater width than thickness. Such strips can bereadily cut from a sheet of plastic material, wound around a mandrel andformed into a helical coil 15 by the application of heat and pressure.The surface of the finished coil must be smooth so that it can readilybe screwed into the perforations of the leaves. The perforations must,of

course, have a larger diameter than the width of the strip from whichthe binder is formed. The perforations may be either round or oblong.

Preferably, though not necessarily, one of the ends of the spiral ispointed so that it can.be readily inserted into the perforations, andthe other end is bent back upon itself or otherwise soarranged that itwill not pass through a perforation. The enlargement of the end may alsobe omitted, because my spiral will sufliciently cling to the book andwill not become unscrewed as readily as a wire spiral.

A spiral plastic cofl is much lighter and much more pliable than a steel'or brass wire coil and yet it is stiff enough, if formed of flat stock,

' As a matter of fact, friction between the coil and the booklet andbinder folded at right angles to the axis of the coil. It issuiiiciently resilient to regain its shape, and to accommodate itselfwhen books provided with such binders are stacked. The leaves of thebook will not be easily torn by the soft and, relatively pliable binder.

Thelimproved plastic binder will have no tendharmonious or decorative apart of the book's ency to mar table topsand readily lend itself toornamentation, coloring and the application of advertising. It will beas inconspicuous, striking;

dress as the designer's fancy may dictate. Special arrangements forconcealing the binding need Fig. 3 illustrates diagrammatically themethod I of making my improved coil binder.

A spool Ill of a plastic ribbon I is mounted on a shaft II and theplastic ribbon is fed into grooves l2 in a steel mandrel l3 which issuitably heated. In order to feed the ribbon onto the mandrel l3, thelatter is rotated and there is sui'licient resistance to the rotation ofthe spool on bar I l to insure a certain pressure between the ribbon andthe heated surfaces of the grooves I2. This simultaneous application ofheat and pressure will cause the plastic material to set into the shapedetermined by the grooves.

The plastic material will come oil the end of mandrel I3 set into ahelical coil which may be cut into suitable lengths.

The coil can be screwed through the marginal perforations 2 of a stackof leaves 3. One end of the coil may be pointed as indicated at 4 so asto facilitate screwing through the perforations, and the other end maybe doubled back upon itself as indicated at 5, acting as a stop.

What is claimed is: p

1. A binder for sheets having marginal perforations, consisting of alengthof plastic material formed intoa helical coil which may be screwedinto said perforations.

2. A binderfior sheets having marginal -perforations, consisting of aflat strip of plastic material formed into a helical coil which may bescrewed into said perforations and which will regain its shape afterradial and axial distortion.

3. A binder for sheets having marginal perforations, consisting of alength of flat plastic material formed into a helical coil which may bescrewed into said perforations, the spacing between the convolutionsbeing different from the spacing o the perforations.

"4. A binder for sheets having marginal permthe other end bent so thatit will not pass throughj a perforation, said strip being formed into' ahellcal coil which may bescrewed into said perforations, and theconvolutions of which are differently spaced than said perforations.

FRANK F. FARKAS.

